Joshua is starting a new job Monday! See his geek blog for more details.
A while back I heard about this product called Baby Legs. Think of them as long socks minus the feet. Great for crawling around hard floors, keeping legs warm (of course!). I've seen adults use them on their arms. I like the idea of of using them on little ones, sounds like a great alternative to pants when it comes to changing diaper!
They have a contest going where you can win 20 pairs of Baby Legs, and you can get bonus entries if you link to the contest on your blog (as I'm doing now). Go here to sign up.
Every now and then you get a reminder that small children are still working on discerning that fine line between reality and dreams. Like today, for instance.
Elizabeth was sleeping on the bed while I worked at the computer. She woke up for a dead sleep, eyes open, and, the following conversation took place:
"Hey dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Earlier I saw some giraffes."
"Really?"
"Yeah, outside."
And she laid back down and was back out. And this all happened in the spam of about 60 to 90 seconds. Wow.
In order to get to Jonathan's appointment I had to wake him up from his nap. He got to keep his binky (pacifier) to the car. When we got to the car I offered him a granola bar as a snack. He held it firmly in his hand, and I asked for his binky. He was quiet for the whole ride to the eye clinic. When I went to get him out of his seat, there was his uneaten granola bar. Feeling really badly, I offered Jonathan his binky. He took it, still clutching onto his granola bar. I asked for the binky back when we got inside. (they have a small play area and I didn't feel like losing a pacifier) He willingly gave it up. We get inside to sign in where he tells everyone he's sick (he's not, this is the eye doctor). All the while he's clutching onto the granola bar. We sit down in the waiting area and I ask if he's going to eat the granola bar.
"Yes" he says as he just sits there. I ask a second time and it was like the light bulb went on, "oh yeah, food". He then proceeds to start counting (mouth full of food no less), "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9."
I corrected him, "7, 8, 9." He practically shouts "10!" I asked if he knew what came after 10.
"9?"
I told him that 11 came next. He then says "12."
"What comes after 12, do you know?"
"10".
I said "10, 11, 12."
"13"
"Very good Jonathan. Who taught you that? Did Elizabeth teach you that?"
"No"
"Did you learn that from Elmo (we have a TV game that uses Sesame Street for learning)
"Animals!" (There are animals on the Elmo game.)
Today Jonathan had an other eye exam, to see how he was adjusting to his prescription. When we went to sign in, he said "I sick". I was quick to tell him that he was not sick but he persisted. I reiterated the fact that he was not sick. I also told him that we were seeing the eye doctor not his medical doctor. To which he replied: "ok"
I am happy (elated perhaps) by the fact that Jonathan does not have to wear his glasses! He will have to wear them again if we see his left eye start to drift (and also bring him back to the eye doctor). Dr. Zamber was very impressed with how far Jonathan has come since getting his glasses.
So, you don't think I was going to let you escape without hearing about the other child, do you?  Today, it is Elizabeth who is on my lap, sitting sideways, leaning against my right arm, with her right hand on mine as I type. And she's asleep. Yup, it's kind of hard (translation: impossible) to use my trackball, but there is little that can match the feeling of a sleeping child on your lap. I certainly don't mind the "inconvenience."
Right now, I am typing, but the range of motion of my right arm is somewhat impaired, effectively eliminating the usage of my trackball. This is because I got my son up from his nap, but he's not quite awake. In fact, he's quite sound asleep on my lap, laying against my chest. And the typing/trackball impairment? He's using my right arm as his pillow. Well worth the bother.
I love listening to Elizabeth talk! With her limited vocabulary she tries so hard to form her thoughts into sentences.
On the drive home from church tonight the sun was right in her eyes. She asked for her sunglasses like this: "I want my sunglasses! I don't want my eyes to be bright!"
I'm sitting here, working, reading, and doing other things I get paid for, and on my lap sits an almost-three-year-old little girl, snuggled up against me. Out cold, mouth open, nearly sawing logs. My own little sleeping beauty.
I love working from home.
As of last Monday (January 21), we have, installed and working, a beautiful new Buderus G115 four-section boiler unit. It's currently keeping the house about 30 to 40 degrees right now (so cold because of the lack of a front window, see below).
We've done our kitchen design, and the cabinets that aren't in stock have been ordered.
More than half of the old wiring is out, and we're almost ready to re-wire the house (and bring it up to code!).
Our front picture window is out, and the lumber around it (sill, cripple studs, headers, etc) that were damaged or rotted have been replaced. The new window (triple pane, argon filled) will go in Thursday.
Our flooring is purchased, and is sitting in the living room of the house. Glue, underlayment, and such still needs to be purchased.
So, what's left to do:
- Rewire (whole house)
- Plumbing (whole house)
- Repair rotted studs (there are a few)
- Re-do all insulation
- Sheetrock
- Painting
- Flooring
- Other miscellaneous stuff
So, progress, but still a ways to go. Please keep us in your prayers.
Background 1: Tonight we had a special service at church. Usually, nothing is happening on Sunday evenings, and we usually attend the Saturday evening service.
Background 2: Elizabeth knows what church is, and knows what it means to go to church.
Well, Elizabeth is used to having people over after we come home from church in the evening. So, she was asking if various people were coming over tonight: Izzy, Becca, Robb (friends of ours), Chana (a good friend and a girl she plays with at church), and some others. We answered to the negative each time. This was then followed by the question: "Is church coming over tonight?" Fitting 400 people in our apartment would have been quite the feat.
This morning while I was watching Elizabeth (while Crystal took Jonathan to the eye doctor), I noticed Elizabeth was being very quiet. I went to check on her. She was hiding in her closet. Folding clothes. Quite the little mommy, she is.
Today was Jonathan's 1 year check up. I know it's a bit late, but this is just how it played out....
When the nurse came in to give Jonathan his shots he leaned over to hug her. Scratch that, he LUNGED for her. She took him from me and hugged him, saying how sweet he was. By this point the nurse and I were both feeling bad. The little guy didn't know what he had coming. (For the record I don't like needles so this is the worst part of the visit, luckily it's over pretty quickly.) We laid him down and he did fine for the first half of the first shot. After that he was a water works complete with screams of protest (I have yet to meet a baby who doesn't cry). After he was back in my arms he quieted down and smiled at the nurse. He even waved bye-bye on the way out the door.
The interview is long over, the offer letter has been signed, and my two-week's notice has been given, so now the story can be told. As many of you know, for the the past year and a half I've been working at EE Internet. The time has come to move on.
A few weeks back, I came across a job posting on the AK LUG mailing list from a company in Anchorage looking for developers (programmers). I replied and asked if it would work as a telecommute job from Fairbanks. The answer was: "It's a slim chance, but let's give it a try." So, after sending them my resume, I flew down to Anchorage for an interview on September 25th. They liked me enough to make the telecommuting thing work, and I start work on November 5th.
I'll be working for S&K Aerospace a Montana native corporation, and the only non-Alaskan native corporation doing business in Alaska. They are a military contractor developing technology solutions for the armed forces in Alaska. I will be doing web application development, mostly in Python (woohoo!).
The best part is, I'll be working from home, so will get to be around my family so much more. We're all looking forward to it, and are very thankful for this opportunity. Crystal and I have been praying for a work-from-home job for me probably as long as we've been married, and God provided this job.
I'm excited!
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